Northeast Metro Business VHEDC 2019 | Page 31

COMMUNITY BANKING Every one of F&M’s Vadnais Heights employees – 20 – pride themselves on local decision-making and the branch’s flexibility to customize its products and services. F&M has received the Community Champion Recognition five years in a row from the Minnesota Bankers Association, for commitment and time devoted to community projects; employees have built a driveway, helped with fall clean up for a local veteran and cleaned up and renovated the warming house at Westfield Park in Vadnais Heights. F&M team members have been very involved in local events, such as White Bear Lake Relay for Life and Vadnais Heights Heritage Days; also, team members are heavily involved in the Vadnais Heights Economic Development Corporation and the White Bear Chamber. F&M also boasts its “F&M Cares” program … Every Friday employees are encouraged to wear jeans for a donation of $5. These funds are then dispersed to clients, local community members or organizations that are in need. Bank- wide, F&M has donated over $100,000 since the program’s inception. Its second location in White Bear Lake opened in 1989, with the name Lake Area Security Bank, which was shortened in 1992. Now more than 100 years after its opening, Lake Area Bank has six locations and approximately 115 employees. Lake Area prides itself on personal relationships with its customers, ease of doing business and a trusted team of experts. Lake Area’s core purpose is “making a difference in people’s lives.” Its employees are dedicated and active in their community events; they donate their time and money in support of many organizations and bank-sponsored campaigns: Food drives for local food shelves; backpack drives for school supplies for low-income children; and mitten drives for children and adults; and “Support for Earth Month” which promotes plastic bag recycling and provides reusable shopping totes. Community Shredding Events are offered for customers and the local communities to securely shred their private documents. help each client, employee and local community be successful and prides itself on its 5 Core Values: Compassion, Honesty, Excellence, Integrity and Fairness. One memorable comment made by a new client was, “Wow! I’ve never seen ANY bank whose first value was Compassion.” MidCountry supports the local community through volunteer efforts and financial contributions that align with its culture and values. Collectively, White Bear Lake branch team members are represented on five nonprofit boards and close to 12 committees for community and organizational events and campaigns, including: The Bear’ly Open Golf on Ice fundraiser for the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf, Lakeshore Players Capital Campaign, White Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce, WBL Area Educational Foundation, White Bear Lake Rotary, Vadnais Heights Economic Development Corporation, and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Rush Line advisory committee. MidCountry Bank, White Bear Lake MidWestOne Bank, White Bear Lake Member FDIC / Equal Housing Lender 1310 E. Highway 96, Suite 116 651-766-7020 midcountrybank.com Member FDIC / Equal Housing Lender 3670 E. County Line N; 651-426-2554 midwestone.com Lake Area Bank opened its doors in Lindstrom, Minnesota in 1915 and was named Security State Bank of Lindstrom. MidCountry Bank has 14 branch locations in Minnesota, including one in White Bear Lake since 2016. The bank employs 190 people company-wide, with seven team members based in White Bear Lake. MidCountry strives to MidWestOne Bank has been a part of the Northeast Metro area community dating back to its founding in 1934. MidWestOne has branches and as many as 1,000 employees in five states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado Photo courtesy of Lake Area Bank. Photo courtesy of MidCountry Bank. Photo courtesy of MidWestOne Bank. Lake Area Bank, White Bear Lake Member FDIC / Equal Housing Lender 1400 E. Hwy 96; 651-653-9619 lakeareabank.com lakeareamortgage.com vhedc.com 31